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The Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association (ALBBAA) photo contest is now underway. The contest began Jan. 15 and ends on Feb. 16.

The photo contest is sponsored by the Central Alabama Farmers Cooperative in Selma. Photos of bucks harvested during the 2023-24 archery and firearms season are also eligible.

“Alabama’s Black Belt is recognized for having bountiful deer hunting opportunities, and we hope hunters will continue to share their photos with our organization,” ALBBAA Director Pam Swanner said. “We encourage hunters to keep the photos coming.”

The Black Belt region consists of 23 counties: Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Tuscaloosa and Wilcox.

The 2023-24 deer season ends Feb. 10, but voting continues through midnight on Feb. 16 to allow additional voting time for photos submitted after the final weekend of hunting season.

To enter the contest, hunters must upload, through the ALBBAA website, a photo of a buck harvested from within the 23-county Black Belt region. The buck must be harvested during 2023-2024 whitetail deer season. It is important to have on orange if the submitted photo taken in the woods. The winner of the contest is selected exclusively through online voting, : https://alabamablackbeltadventures.org/news-more/shoot-the-black-belt/big-buck-photo-contest/.

Visitors to the contest webpage may vote once per day, per entry, per IP address. In the case of any dispute, the decision of ALBBAA is final. Photo contest winners from the previous two years are ineligible to get re-entered.

The contestant who receives the most online votes before voting ends Feb. 16 will receive two game cameras, courtesy of Central Alabama Farmers Cooperative.

Here are the reasons a photo can get disqualified:

• The photo content presents the subject in an unethical or disrespectful composition.
• The photo content is perceived to cast a negative perception of hunters and their contribution to the management of wildlife.
• Voting violation which imposes an unfair advantage to others.